More than half a century ago, Jim Slater, the man who saved the Bobby Fischer match from collapse by doubling the prize fund, delivered a major stimulus to the game in Britain. Slater offered £5,000 for the first British player to become a grandmaster, and £2,500 for the next four to do so.
The offer was carefully phrased, since there were six obvious candidates. In the event, Tony Miles, Raymond Keene, John Nunn, Jonathan Speelman and Jonathan Mestel won the awards, while Bill Hartston missed out, despite falling only half a point short of a GM norm at the same Hastings tournament where Slater made his announcement. Hartston’s successful years as a television commentator more than made up for it.
Slater’s business career collapsed during the period of the awards and he became a self-declared “minus millionaire”, but he still honoured his word and paid the awards in full.
Forward to the 2020s, and the legacy of the English chess explosion survives only in the dominance of English teams and individuals in World and European 50-plus and 65-plus events.
England currently has no players in the world top 50, and only four in the world top 100.
Chess in the past five years has enjoyed some powerful boosts. Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit and its heroine Beth Harman were a viewing success, Magnus Carlsen is a popular world no 1, while the major chess sites, chess.com and lichess.com, have millions of blitz games played every day.
The result has been that the incomes of the top 10 or 20 grandmasters have soared, with new events like the St Louis organised Grand Chess Tour, and the $3.75mn Freestyle Grand Slam. This year, for the first time, the Esports World Cup, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will include chess (10-minute games, without any per-move increment, and a $1.5mn prize pool). In 2026, Fide’s $2mn official world championship series will resume centre stage, as India’s Gukesh Dommaraju defends his crown against the winner of the eight-player Candidates.
Meanwhile, back in Britain, participation remains high but the returns do not match the stellar numbers. A new survey from chess.com lists its UK online membership at an astonishing 8.9mn players, behind only the US (43.9mn) and India (20.4mn). Yet the rewards from winning major national events remain low.
Next month’s English Championship in Warwick (July 18-21) offers £2,000-£1,250-£750 for first to third, while the week-long British Championship in Liverpool from July 31 to August 9 has £5,000-£2,500-£1,500. The highest ever British Championship first prize was £8,000 in 2011.
Could a Slater-style grandmaster offer address the problem by identifying a new chess hero for UK fans? Currently there are thousands of GMs, but statistics show that the earlier a player qualifies the better. Specifically, those who acquire the title before their 15th birthday have the best chance of reaching the higher levels of a 2650, 2700 or 2750 rating.
A chess.com list of all these very young GM names reveals a strong correlation with the current world top, while many of the missing names dropped out of chess in their teens. As a subjective judgment, my assessment is that around two-thirds of the listed names have had a successful chess career in terms of reaching the higher GM levels.
Any organisation making an offer for the first British under-15 grandmaster would be unlikely to have to pay out for several years. I see only two possible current contenders, and both are still hundreds of rating points short. It is much more likely that, if the target is ever achieved, it will be in the 2030s at the earliest. Thus, the initiating organisation would essentially only need to demonstrate its financial credibility and perhaps to take out an insurance policy, before accepting public plaudits.
Meanwhile, the successors to the English chess explosion will be in action on June 25 and 26 (10am start) when the finals of the English Schools Team Championship take place at Nottingham university, and can be followed live online at chess.com.
Puzzle 2629
Safin Safarullakhan vs Michael Ferzli, Dubai 2023. White to move and win.
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